CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – A proposal that would clear the way to build an 18-court tennis complex at Carmel Elementary School was approved by the Clarksville-Montgomery County School Board Tuesday night.
The board approved the conditional transfer of property to Montgomery County for further planning and design of a community tennis complex. The vote was met with divisive opinions, and the final tally was 4-3.
Purpose of 11 acres
The original purpose of the additional 11 acres at Carmel Elementary was for the development of a county park facility to improve the quality of life in the area. “When the Carmel Elementary School property was purchased in 2008, there were plans by CMCSS and Montgomery County through the Ad Hoc Joint Land Acquisition Committee to set aside the 11.37 acres as a ‘Future Community Use Area,'” said Anthony Johnson, CMCSS spokesman.
Johnson said this was officially designated by the School Board and CMCSS in 2011, and an initial sketch was developed that included tennis courts as well as several other potential uses.
Currently, Montgomery County is home to 11 tennis court locations, with a total of 55 courts. All CMCSS high schools have tennis courts for use by students and the community, however, these courts are not tournament quality and do not provide professional mentoring. As a result, many have to travel to Nashville for competitions and expert mentorship.
Forty-six of these courts are within the city limits of Clarksville, and nine are in Montgomery County.
The proposal to transfer the land to the county was voted down at a School Board meeting on Oct. 18. It was brought back up because board members wanted additional information.
“Last time around when this got voted down, I received more feedback than I have ever received in my short four-month tenure about tennis courts from the community,” said Aron Maberry, District 7 representative. “It was clear to me the community is very much in support (of the tennis courts).”
One of the issues brought up was the accessibility of these tournament-quality courts to students and families located inside the city. Although a majority of city schools can be accessed through the Clarksville Transit System with nearby bus stops, it still leaves a few schools outside the city with no bus access, including Carmel.
According to documents provided from the Tennis Complex proposal, the Land Acquisition Committee is currently searching for land for three elementary schools and a three-school complex that falls within the city limits. If the proposal at Carmel is not approved, these school locations could be competing with future tennis court locations.
Question of school expansion
As Clarksville continues its rapid growth, concerns were raised about school capacities. There was an obvious tension in the room when discussions about classroom expansions to accommodate an increase in student population arose.
As cited in documents from the proposal, any future additions to Carmel would be designed and attached to the main building on the west side. CMCSS officials have said there are no plans to expand on the other side of the school, and it likely isn’t possible.
Maberry said it seemed wrong, then, for CMCSS to hold the land for no good reason.
Carol Berry, District 1 representative, responded that the land would be used.
“We are not going to be holding the land just to be holding the land. We are going to use that land, if we need to, to expand the school at Carmel, in case population continues to explode,” she said. “When those classes get overcrowded, and they will, it’s going to make a problem.”
One primary problem: The CMCSS water treatment plant at Carmel was designed to accommodate only the current building and the planned expansion, according to Chief Operations Officer Norm Brumblay. So any additional expansion would require much more infrastructure.
“To make an expansion on that site that we had set aside for a park would be extremely difficult, extremely expensive and would cause logistical difficulties for that building in the future,” Brumblay told the board.
The Land Acquisition Committee continues to search for future elementary school sites to serve this region and alleviate the stress of overcrowding and school capacity. They have already dismissed that portion of the Carmel campus as not feasible, Brumblay said.
Who will build the courts?
Funding for the new tennis complex would come, in part, from a possible grant from the United States Tennis Association. Montgomery County Parks and Recreation plans to apply for a USTA grant that would help the county build this new community, tournament-quality tennis court location.
“A clawback clause shall be included to return ownership to CMCSS after five years if no construction of the Tennis Complex has begun on the Carmel Elementary School property,” according to the Tennis Complex proposal for CMCSS.
After discussing the new information, the board voted to approve the transfer.
Those voting in favor this time were Margaret Pace, Kent Griffy, Charlie Patterson and Aron Maberry. Those voting no were Carol Berry, Herbert Nelson and Jimmie Garland.
Between the Oct. 18 vote and the vote on Tuesday, Pace and Patterson changed from no to yes. Nelson changed from yes to no.
Chris Smith contributed to this report.
Correction: Funding is anticipated from a USTA grant that the county intends to apply for. USTA told Clarksville Now on Jan. 23 that the grant, if approved, likely would not cover the entire cost of the project. Also, Aron Maberry has been on the School Board for four months. The article has been updated.